Testing

Where Are the Tests?

Submitted by Simon Rosenberg on 4/1/20

The early troubles that the CDC had in standing up a national COVID-19 testing regime have been well documented. But in early March, the Administration told us that these problems had been fixed. The Vice President promised 5 million tests in place by March 13th. Other Administration officials promised tens of millions by late March. Daily testing rates climbed, and on March 25th we hit 100,000 tests a day for the first time. Even though many of these tests had ridiculously long turnarounds, 3-7 days, the much needed national testing system seemed to be in the process of being stood up.

But something has happened. Daily testing growth stopped, and we are now stuck at around 100,000 tests a day (see data below). Despite the promise of millions of tests, the US has only conducted 1.1m over the past ten weeks, and at current rates will not complete 5m tests until May 11th or so, a full two months after the Vice President said 5m tests were in place, ready to go.

Given that to stand America up from the crisis the nation will need hundreds of millions of inexpensive and rapid tests, we simply have to understand what is happening here. The answers provided by the White House are inadequate, and hundreds of thousands of American lives are in the balance here. We simply have to get testing right or the crisis will get far worse and our recovery will be far more difficult. There is no margin of error here.

If the White House cannot explain what is happening with the US testing regime today, the House should conduct a virtual hearing Friday, and request that Dr. Birx testify under oath. Something has gone wrong, again, with our national testing regime, and the American people deserve both answers and a clear plan for how to make it right."

You can find more from NDN on the need for a national plan to tame the virus here, and more on the need for better testing here.

US Daily Testing Numbers - data from the COVID Tracking Project:

Mar 20 - 35k (this is one week after Pence said 5m tests would be in place)

Mar 21 - 44k

Mar 22 - 45k

Mar 23 - 66k

Mar 24 - 65k

Mar 25 - 113k

Mar 26 - 107k

Mar 27 - 108k

Mar 28 - 114k

Mar 29 - 95k